Rutan designed the Defiant with one engine at the rear to push, the other at the nose to pull. He built the four-place, 1,300-mile-range airplane for himself and decided later to sell plans.

The Defiant sold between ’84 and ’85. The plans were only sold for one ... the VariEze from foam and fiberglass? Rutan: I knew that a metal airplane and a wooden airplane were very work ...